Northumberland County Council ordered to pay £500 by Ombudsman after withdrawing support for vulnerable man

The resident, identified only as Mr X, complained to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman after the council withdrew its support in February 2021.

According to the Ombudsman’s report, Mr X has an “ongoing need for help to manage his home and finances” and the withdrawal “negatively affected his mental health” while leaving him “struggling to manage his home and debts.”

The report states that Mr X lives alone and struggled to manage his bills as well as the upkeep and repairs needed to his home. As a result, in May 2020 he was allocated a social worker by the council to give him advice about managing his utility debts.

However, a care and support assessment with Mr X completed in August of the same year noted he could “become very frustrated and agitated” and suggested referring him to an advocate in the future. He was then allocated a new social worker in December because, according to the council, Mr X had “expressed dissatisfaction with” and been “rude and aggressive” towards the social worker.

Just two months later, the council wrote to Mr X to say it would be ending its support. The letter said this was because of Mr X’s “lack of engagement and not following advice provided.” That same day, he had been rude and aggressive towards his social worker over the phone and a manager had decided to end support.

Mr X promptly complained to the Ombudsman about the decision. The investigator found that while Mr X’s behaviour towards council staff was unacceptable, the council had acted with fault.

This was because the council had identified the fact that Mr X found it difficult to communicate with “organisations and bureaucracies” and recorded he might benefit from the support of an advocate. However, there was no evidence the council had considered whether to refer him to an advocacy service before ending its support.

Furthermore, Mr X was given no warning that his behaviour and lack of engagement might result in the council ending its support. The council did not write to him to say that it considered his behaviour unacceptable and what the consequences would be if it continued or what he needed to do to demonstrate engagement – something the inspector branded “an injustice.”

Since the complaint was launched, Northumberland County Council has began supporting Mr X again with a new social worker. The council has also agreed to provide a written apology and pay Mr X £500 “in recognition of the impact on him of the time he was without support.”

The Ombudsman also advised the council to “produce a procedure or guidance for relevant staff on addressing unacceptable behaviour from service users.” This should include ensuring that the service user is:

Aware of the behaviour in issue; and Advised of the potential consequences of any continued unacceptable behaviour.

Northumberland County Council has been contacted for comment.